In the realm of Hollywood’s love stories, Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend’s relationship is one of the most notable, having lasted for more than a decade.  They were like a pair of sunglasses on sunny days—cool and playful together. The Mad Max star meets Townsend on a crime drama set, where Townsend falls for Theron after seeing her.

Charlize Theron’s romantic encounter with Trapped  co-star Stuart Townsend

Stuart Townsend and Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron met her love interest, Irish actor Stuart Townsend, when both starred in the 2022 drama Trapped, where the actor noticed her. In an interview, Townsend once described their romantic journey. He remembers that they sat together when Theron had a dog with her. Initially, the actor assumed that she was haughty and thought she was mad for bringing a dog with her.

“We sat beside each other, and I honestly really didn’t take that much notice, maybe because we were working,” he said of their first read-through. “All I remember is Charlize had a dog with her, and I remember thinking, “Oh, there’s the mad lady with the dog!’”

Later, the actor changed his perception when they met informally during a dinner with the director. Townsend was stunned seeing Theron. As the actor described her, she looked like a million dollars.

Speaking about his filmography, Townsend has been involved in various notable film and television projects throughout his career, like Head in the Clouds, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and the popular sitcom Will and Grace.

She just looked like a million dollars,” Townsend gushed. “I went, ‘Whoa! Who is this girl?” When she glams up, it’s ridiculous. She can look so hot. She’s a goddess—a total goddess. That night, we had so much fun. I was just smitten after that.”

The Oscar-winning actress didn’t initially see Townsend as relationship material, but that quickly changed. Once Townsend approached her for a date, Theron told Elle UK that she knew she was falling in love with Townsend after just a few weeks together.

Charlize Theron compared Stuart Townsend to “Winning the Lottery”

Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend

Though both couples conclude excluding marriage from their conception of togetherness, Townsend said that love and trust are more important than marriage. Moreover, the pairs looked like married couples, and he believed that they didn’t require an official certificate from the state or a church to validate their relationship.

Theron feels so fortunate to have had Townsend and says he is the best thing that has happened to her. The sentiment came after five years of their relationship. The couple was having playful and delightful times together. Theron went on to liken being with Townsend to winning the lottery.

Theron empathized that she couldn’t envision love as profound as the one she shared with Townsend.

Mexican trip ends actors’ decade-long love

Stuart Townsend

In the early years of 2010, rumors of a split have been flying. Theron once revealed to Vogue that she took a temporary break from acting in order to concentrate on her relationship with Townsend, but she said though they were facing difficulties,  she was truly determined to make every effort to salvage them.

According to the Daily Mail’s report, the couple threw in the towel during their Mexican trip.  After her split from Townsend, Theron adopted two children: a daughter in March 2012 and another daughter in July 2015.

Townsend later had a relationship with Agatha Arya. In 2019, he was arrested on a felony charge of domestic violence. The couple has two children named Desmond and Ezra.